How smart are Hedge Funds? Not.

The latest performance data (via the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index) reveal that hedge funds haven’t fared well at all: They returned a mere 3.5% in 2012, while the S&P 500-stock index gained 16%. Over the past five years, and the hedge fund index lost 13.6%, while the indices added 8.6%. That’s as of the end of 2012; it has only gotten worse in 2013. Most hedge funds have fallen even further behind their benchmarks this year, gaining 5.4% vs. the market’s rally of 15.4%. As a source of comparison, the average mutual fund is up 14.8%.”